End of Shadow War = Lame

It's the same conflict on many levels. It's order vs chaos in the universe, authoritarian vs libertarian in society, the influence of the parents.

There's a similar conflict on a psychological level, between the conscience ("super-ego") and the subconscious ("shadow self" in the terminology of C.G. Jung - there's a reason the Shadows got their name).

Becoming more than a mere pawn in the presence of all those opposing factors thying to control you is what the Shadow war is about. Trying to fight all these controlling influences by force is futile- "you have to understand you way out of it."

When I first watched it, there was a great deal of buzzing about an apparent political allegory with the Shadow/Vorlon conflict. I understood that reasoning, because the same idea popped into my mind, too. However, the portrayed conflict itself seemed more to be one between any two disparate ideologies than anything political.

One question, as to your "of the past" and "of the future" delineations, are you referring to Morden's explanation to Sheridan in "Z'ha'dum"?

I was also confused by the seemingly anti-climactic ending, but upon reflection, I think it makes more sense than having constant explosions. It fits well with the theme of the show and works better in the overall context of the story..

I just rewatched the scene that ended the Shadow War again and I have to say that it does appear that I may enjoy the series even more the second time through, knowing what I'll know. But after watching this scene again something jumped out at me very plainly. This whole scenario reminds me of our political scene. Conservative Republicans vs. Liberal Democrats. It seemed so obvious that I'm surprised it didn't jump out at me this plainly the first time. The Vorlons, order, obedience (religious), "of the past," Shadows, "of the future," chaos, Darwin's natural selection (science). But the thing that stuck out to me most in this comparison is the idea that, to the Vorlons and Shadows, it was no longer about helping the younger races (the people), it had become completely about which team wins and has bragging rights. Then, in the scene, the people step up to these two "parties" and say "Enough! We don't need you anymore. Get the hell out of our galaxy!"

So, the Shadows are the Democrats, eh? Deceitful, vicious, hiding behind the scenes, setting people against one another, surgically altering peoples' minds to be compliant agaents of chaos or obedient tools to run their machines...

Babylon 5 trivia for stuff that never was: The original name for the Shadows was the Shadowmen. Kinda Saturday morning cartoon-ish, I think. And in the original draft of "The Gathering", Kosh had a mate named Velana.

So, the Shadows are the Democrats, eh? Deceitful, vicious, hiding behind the scenes, setting people against one another, surgically altering peoples' minds to be compliant agaents of chaos or obedient tools to run their machines...

Yeah, I can see it.

(now cue angry Dem response with Vorlon traits - and...begin!)

Click to expand...

I wasn't attempting to make a political statement. I was listing the public perceptions of the two political groups and how they matched up with how the Vorlons and Shadows were described in the series. That's all.